Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1887-06-10
THE COMMANDMENTS.
EXPLANATORY NOTES BY S. /.
CURTlSS, PHI. D., D. D.


Text of the Lesson, Eek. Xxx, Ill.
Golden Text, Mat xii, 81.
Mount Sinai. Our lesson introduces us TO
one of the grandest and most solemn scenes
of human history. In the third month after
Israel had left Egypt they had reached the
wilderness of Sinai lex. xix, - which is now
commonly believed on the best authority to
have been the plain of En- Rahah. On the
third day after their arrival, as we may sup
pose, the people were gathered on this plain
Tvs. 1G, ~, which was two miles long by half
mile broad, before Ras Sufsafeh, which is
included under the term Jebel Musa (moun-
tain of Moses. They stand awe struck before
the majestic displays of the divine power.
The mountain is enveloped in thick smoke.
There are thunderngs and lightnings. A
trumpet sounds The mountain itself is
shaken, while the people tremble with fear.
These displays designed to impress them
with the divine holiness and the majesty of
the law which they are soon to hear.
THE LESSON.
The Author of the Commandments Tvs. l, 3.
The thought expressed is that God is the
author of the commandments which follow
and of the exact words contained in them.
He introduces himself by what might be
called his proper name: II am Jehovah thy
God" Other Semites might speak of their
gods as Elohm. but we have good reason for
believing that only the Israelites called him
Jehovah (EX vi, g, Revised Version. God
proclaims two facts: 1. That he brought
Israel out from Egypt; 2. That he brought
them out of the house of bondage. Israel
could not have escaped from Egypt or have
broken the yoke of servitude by their own
power. 1t was only by means of the ten
plaques that they were enabled to cut loose
| from their masters lex vii A.. In another
place En- xix, 81 God tells his people how he
had borne them on eagles wings. Just as
the mother bird who is training the eaglet to
fly supports it when it is weary, so God had
borne Israel Compare Duet. xxi, IL
The First Commandment ". 3).-In the
| first commandment God tells his people that
they were to have no other gods beside
| him devised Version, margin) This COM
| mand was necessary on account of the ex-
ample of all nations that were around them.
who had numerous deities. and on account of
the tendencies of the Israelites themselves to
idolatry. The ancestors of Abraham in their
| home. JTr of the Chaldees, were idolators ac-
corGing to the clear testimony of scripture
Josh. xiv. .. Jacob had to be at pains to root
idolatry out of his family Gen xxxv, p; and
it appears that the Israeltes were idolators
in Egypt Josh. xiv, II. Is: Eek. Xxx. $40.
Until after tine Babylonian captivity this was
the greatest temptation to which Gods people
We're exposed and under which they often
fell: hence the importance of this command.
The Second Commandment Tvs. G.-The
| second commandment is directed against the
making of images Here carved images are
specified, although the Hebrew word pa-sel
mold All kinds of image making then are
excluded They were not to make the like
ness of any form that is in heaven above
One of the Egyptian deities was Ra, the SUM-
They and the ancient Chaldeans worshiped
the moongod The sacred writers found it
necessary to warn Israel against the worship
| of the sun and moon and all the host of
heaven, as the stars Deut. iv, 10: III Kings
xiii, y.
Many of the idols We're representations of
animals. Such was the case among the Egyp-
tians, who had their sacred bulls, and even
cats-not to speak of other animals-to
which they rendered divine honOrs Even
the sea furnished objects of worship to some
peoples, in the shape of animals either real or
imaginary.
God exhibits both sides of his character in
the second commandment. We read in the
New Testament that God is love Il John iv,
l6. The Old Testament really reveals him
in the same character (Ex. xxviv, O.. But
that love is turned into jealousy when he sees
his covenant people Israel leaving him for
the idols of the heather. He is represented
as visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon
the children unto the third and fourth gen
GRAFTON of those who hate him. In doing this
he simply allows the children to suffer the
consequences of the sins of their parents.
This is a natural law whose working could
not be changed without miracle. Children
now suffer for the sins of their parents. They
suffer in reputation. The child of the gam
bier the drunkard, the fallen, has an inner
itance of shame, and too often sees the finger
of scorn pointed at him. They suffer in
health Some are born with an Unsuitable
thirst for drink, others with ruined constitu-
tions, others with the marks of infamy i'll
their faces, because of the transgression OF
their parents God in visiting punishment